Two Clients are Sick and Tired of Ad Agency Sexism

In Florida last fall, Pepsico's Bradley Jakeman declared to the crowd at the ANA Masters of Marketing that he was "… sick and tired, as a client, of sitting in agency meetings with a whole bunch of white straight males talking to me about how we are going to sell our brands that are bought 85% by women." Orlando gasped. But when the straight white males that dominate his agency, VaynerMedia, threw a bash in Cannes and stipulated that women send in head shots to qualify for an invitation, Jakeman, apparently, wasn't so sick and tired. A year later, sexism still perpetuates in the agencies, agency heads still make shockingly asinine comments in the press, the amount of female creative directors still stagnates at tiny fractions, and there are still no women running the holding companies. Who's sick and tired now?

Kristi Faulkner is president and co-founder of Womenkind, where she advises clients who need and want to better reach, engage and motivate women through enhanced marketing messages, product innovation, and organizational evolution. As a creative director, ...
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